Gardening Ways

A range of garden and nature focussed articles assembled during my work in horticulture.

A Pocketful of Weeks

| Gary Webb

Focussing on spring flowers.

Now the vernal equinox is upon us there is little doubt that spring is here, and not a moment too soon! Ahead of us are even longer, warmer and brighter days with waves of colourful new growth appearing in gardens and throughout our countryside. Seemingly, it’s been a longer winter than usual, and definitely a wetter one, but now we’re beyond the worst of it, surely, and should be looking forward to the treats ahead with anticipation.

Whilst the spring outlook remains rosy, you don’t need me to remind you that there’s no guarantees where good weather is concerned, so do proceed with an air of caution. If we’re to endure a few more ‘off’ days though, even some visits

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The Little Hawthorn Tree

| Gary Webb

Logic tells me its hard wood picked up none of my thoughts, but nonetheless I willed the little tree to feel something, not wanting it to stand there in silence anymore. In humanising this undeniably non-human being though, sending thoughts in lieu of an impossible conversation, I wanted the tree to feel noticed and appreciated, not just ignored as part the scenery.

I’ve stood before this somewhat ordinary tree many times, this time however, my attention was seized by a blood coloured berry, one of just a few left dotted around the tree’s tangled twiggy mass of branches. Where just a few weeks ago little red

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Just Outside Basecamp

| Gary Webb

Re-evaluating a writing future.

Nothing but fresh air has arisen from this blog for over a month now as I’ve busied myself establishing a Substack and with a writing course. I’m happy though to at last get back to my own writing ways, on Gardening Ways, where you find me re-evaluating my writing future.

Writing for me has steadily grown over the last decade since taking to blogging platforms, initially to help with promotion of my workplaces and to share my love of horticulture, gardens, nature and more. Throughout the years of blogging, I do think that I didn’t quite grasp the creative path I was in fact pursuing, both through my gardening and online activity, so whether through plants, words or pictures, I was simply happy to be toying with them.

Gardening aside, assembling images and text and posting to social media has occupied many hours of my so-called spare time, maybe too many. Oftentimes, I’d rise early

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Allotment Love

| Gary Webb

Reflecting on two years of allotment love and my journey to plot 38a.

Finally over the weekend I made time to visit the allotment and it was refreshing to see a few other allotment holders flexing their green fingers. Since returning home though I’ve spent a little time thinking on both the past allotment year, and our longer term relationship – which does have something of an elasticity to it I have to say.

December 2022

Weeks can become busy and overly filled for the best planners amongst us, and for many, there’s often too little time to get through all the tasks on the to-do list. Might growing an allotment then at this point in life be a challenge too far? That doubt is always there and frequently I’m reminded of it by the naughty elf sitting on my shoulder. On the other shoulder though

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Christmas Chaos

| Gary Webb

It is morning, and the Christmas tree stands silently in the corner of the living room jewelled with baubles and decorations, my favourites being miniature flower pots and garden tools, naturally. This year we’ve added a little shiny watering can, just to keep things green. Paper snowflakes hang around the room in otherwise blank spaces, extra candlesticks and lanterns have been artfully placed, and an olive wood nativity scene sits on top of a bookcase; our own Christmas stage is almost set.

Outside, the garden as often the way in winter, is sodden. Around here for the last two weeks or so we’ve swung from sharp frosts to long periods of rain, and the garden in many ways is best enjoyed through the window. Indeed, venturing out yesterday with a

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A First Forest Bathing Experience

| Gary Webb

Exactly what do people do when ‘forest bathing’ is a question I’d pondered for sometime, when intrigue recently got the better of me. I happened across Healing Earth Ways who were offering a session relatively nearby, another bonus being that participation supported Warwickshire Wildlife Trust; surely it was a win-win situation for all.

My first session began on a sun-blessed morning when frost covered shaded ground, beside a reservoir car park in rural Warwickshire where our welcoming guide stood patiently with a list of names, smiling reassuringly. Before us was an especially bright white stand of birch trees, and behind those a woodland belt which clearly concealed the place we’d soon to be heading.

Morning perfection, by Gary Webb

Beginning with an introduction to the nature of forest bathing, or Shinrin-yoku as it’s called in its origin homeland Japan, our guide softly explained what we’d let ourselves in for. Rather than

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Ginkgo Moments

| Gary Webb
Ginkgo or Maidenhair tree at Berrington Hall, Herefordshire.

The other day I had occasion to visit a garden where aside from varied border displays so artfully cared for by the garden team, I was dazzled by an extraordinary Ginkgo tree. The tree was right in the midst of its autumn display with hundreds and thousands of little leaves, each of them fan-shaped, tiny and glowing gold in the light. I was struck by the tree’s sheer brilliance, illuminated as it was by a low sun shining across the parkland at Berrington Hall. It was a moment that I knew would crown most others that day.

I wasn’t blessed with an abundance of time, otherwise I’d have trotted across the park to view the tree from a distance. It would have looked impressive though for sure, nestled in the midst of ‘Capability’ Brown’s final garden. No, this time I was blessed in a different way, being close-up and personal, us both stood in a sublime part rural Herefordshire.

Standing beneath its mature crown looking up, it was hard not to be impressed by the tree’s volume and its many stems shooting out in different directions. Dare I say, the tree may not have been an artistically formed treasure

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Morning Chair

| Gary Webb

Sitting soon after day break in my living room, freshly opened curtains reveal an autumnal garden in the midst of change. The soft lawn is lending a carpet-like neatness to the open central space, and shabby margins wrap around the garden like a thick fluffy scarf. Welcome to the view from my morning chair.

Halloween pumpkins continue to scowl from just beyond the window, glistening from yet another night of rain. On the ground nearby, a cluster of silver leaved lamb’s-ear plants sit quietly in their now soggy holding pots, and a baby maple already bares its wintry frame from a wooden tub. A lush lawn, some well-stocked borders, a sprinkling of trees and a mug of hot coffee: what more could I want for this moment?

It’s a grey morning, but as a pendulum swings audibly in the room daylight incrementally grows, casting light on the ever-changing outdoors. In the garden, foliage light-green

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Ghostly Gardeners

| Gary Webb

Ghostly Gardeners – a fictional piece based on a world of experience, following a writing prompt about a doorway. By Gary Webb

Looking back, maybe it wasn’t an overactive imagination that placed those oasis-like images in my mind. Maybe the ghostly head gardener had put them there to whet my appetite; to convince me not to pull the old glasshouse down but breathe new life into it. I suppose it could be restored with a few fresh timbers cut-in and some new glass, maybe giving another century of growth, but I’m torn, as when I first set my sore eyes on that tumbledown structure.

When I was there the door, indeed the whole glasshouse clearly needed more than a lick of paint to set it straight. Rust coloured rainwater stained the timber below hinges and where putty should have sat neatly between wood and glass, mossy cushions

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